Hundreds mourn Indian 16-year-old burned alive following horrific rape

The teenager died in hospital in Greater Noida, near New Delhi, where she was being treated for severe burns over 95 per cent of her body.

A 19-year-old man has been arrested and charged with several offences, including rape, murder, assault of a minor and causing grievous injury. 

The attack is the latest in a string of horrific sexual crimes in the country. 

The man, 19, asked the girl to meet him on the terrace of her house, before carrying out the savage attack.

Constable Yadram Singh, of the Bisrakh police station, said the man 'had burns on his hands'.  

Mr Singh's police report on the case describes how the girl's parents found her after hearing her screaming from the rooftop terrace a few hours before dawn on Monday.

The girl later told police she was raped, beaten and then set on fire by a man who she said had been stalking her for months, said Mr Singh. 

Her father had filed a police complaint about the man stalking his daughter and police issued a warning to him last year.

The accused's family denied the accusation of rape and said the two were having a consensual relationship. They did not comment on the girl's burns.  

Investigating officer Ashwani Kumar added: 'Unfortunately she could not be saved despite the best efforts of the medical staff.

'We have arrested the accused, who is 19 years old, and sent him to judicial custody. An investigation is on to find out more about the motive and details of the crime.

'The accused has been charged with a number of offences including rape and murder. The body has been sent for postmortem. We are waiting for the report.' 

This latest attack is just one of several recently reported cases of rapes of women or children in India.

It comes despite a public outcry four years ago that led to stronger laws against sexual assault, following the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a New Delhi bus.   

Elsewhere, Mumbai police reportedly said they were looking into a case where the body of a four-year-old girl was found. There were allegations she had been raped before she was killed.

Last week, three boys reportedly kidnapped and raped a teenage girl around New Delhi, but she managed to escape.

(www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3483432/15-year-old-Indian-girl-dies-raped-set-fire.html#ixzz42U0rEwoW)